Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame, jck, and JeremyBloom. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Interceptor 7, Man Oh Man, wader, Neon Vincent, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck (RIP), rfall, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw.
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00 AM Eastern Time.
Maggiejean called me and said her internet is only sporadic, so I’m filling in, as jck did for me yesterday for the same reason.
BBC
King Charles III diagnosed with cancer, Buckingham Palace says
King Charles has been diagnosed with a form of cancer, says Buckingham Palace.
The type of cancer has not been revealed - it is not prostate cancer, but was discovered during his recent treatment for an enlarged prostate.
The King began "regular treatments" on Monday and will postpone public duties during it, the Palace said.
The Monarch, 75, "remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible," it added.
No further details are being shared on the stage of cancer or a prognosis.
Charles informed both his sons personally about his diagnosis and the Prince of Wales was said to be in regular contact with his father.
BBC
Atmospheric river: Three killed as record rainfall drenches California
At least three people have been killed by falling trees as a powerful storm moved across California bringing flooding, mudslides and power outages.
Fire officials have responded to over 130 flooding incidents and conducted several rescues since the storm began.
About six months of rain was expected to fall in Los Angeles and surrounding areas in just 24 hours.
Forecasters say heavy rain with life-threatening flash flooding will continue into Tuesday.
The storm is due to an "atmospheric river" effect, a phenomenon in which water evaporates into the air and is carried along by the wind, forming long currents that flow in the sky like rivers flow on land.
It is the second atmospheric river to hit California in two weeks.
Officials have issued evacuation orders for some hilly neighbourhoods in southern California, including in Los Angeles, where city leaders declared an emergency.
NPR
Why wolves are thriving in this radioactive zone
In 1986 the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, releasing radioactive material into northern Ukraine and Belarus. It was the most serious nuclear accident in history. Over one hundred thousand people were evacuated from the surrounding area because of the health risks radioactive waste poses to humans. Most people have not returned.
Unlike humans, gray wolves never left.
The local population has grown over the years. It's seven times denser than populations in protected lands elsewhere in Belarus. This fact has led scientists to wonder whether the wolves are genetically either resistant or resilient to cancer — or if the wolves are simply thriving because humans aren't interfering with them.
The Guardian
‘Like a war zone’: Chile wildfire death toll reaches 123 amid race to clear rubble
Helicopters dumped tonnes of water on wildfires raging across central Chile, as emergency crews said they were still finding bodies three days after the blazes took hold.
The official death count from Chile’s worst natural disaster in years increased to 123 on Monday according to Marisol Prado, the director of Chile’s forensic medical service. That number was expected to climb as residents, firefighters and military raced to clear rubble.
Forest fires gathered momentum on Friday and spread to residential areas in the coastal cities of Valparaíso and Viña Del Mar, sending out sparks and fireballs that consumed houses within minutes.
“It’s like a war zone, as if a bomb went off,” said Jacqueline Atenas, 63, who fled her home in nearby Villa Independencia on Friday and returned to the wreckage on Monday carrying a small pink backpack, the only thing she had been able to save.
The Guardian
NT residents warned about crypto investment scams after one victim loses nearly $5m
Northern Territory police have warned that cryptocurrency investment scams are the biggest cause of financial harm to people there, with one resident losing nearly $5m to one scam.
The massive loss was revealed in a submission to a federal inquiry on law enforcement capability around cybercrime. NT police said residents in the territory had suffered “significant losses” ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to the $4.98m lost by one person in 2022.
“It is important to note that whilst for many victims who lose less than one hundred thousand dollars, the impact of such a loss is still very significant to the individual and their family,” NT police said in the submission.
“It is extremely difficult for police to recover funds once they have been transferred to these fake investment companies. The level of personal harm through anguish and embarrassment leads to distinct under reporting of these events.”
Al Jazeera
US admits it did not give Iraq notice of strikes despite earlier claims
The United States has admitted it did not notify the Iraqi government before its recent air strikes in the country after a top White House official claimed Baghdad had been informed in advance.
State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said on Monday that Iraqi officials were only informed after the strikes on Iranian-linked targets.
“Iraq, like every country in the region, understood that there would be a response after the deaths of our soldiers. As for this specific response on Friday, there was not a pre-notification,” Patel told reporters. “We informed the Iraqis immediately after the strikes occurred.”
The clarification came after White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Friday said that Washington had informed the Iraqi government in advance.
Washington Post
A state pollution tax raised $2 billion. Can it survive the backlash?
SEATTLE — The jumbo ferry known as the Wenatchee can carry 200 cars, nearly 2,000 passengers and more than 115,000 gallons of climate-warming diesel fuel. Ship superintendent Tom Larson helped build this boat nearly three decades ago and is now presiding over its disembowelment.
With a view of Seattle’s skyline and the accompaniment of barking sea lions, Larson’s crew hoisted two 24-ton diesel engines out of the Wenatchee in the fall. They were driven to a scrapyard, attacked with torches and, by the next day, he recalled, there was nothing but “a pile of rubble.”
“It was bittersweet,” he said.
But the transformation heralds a cleaner future for the nation’s largest ferry system. The Wenatchee is the first boat to undergo the costly conversion from diesel to hybrid-electric, part of a broader plan to electrify the fleet.
New York Times
We Might Be One Step Closer to Saving America’s Amazon
Drifting in the channels of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, it’s easy to imagine that you are in some deeply isolated wilderness, far from the motors of man. Even when the city of Mobile, Ala., is visible in the distance.
This teeming oasis of biodiversity — 300 square miles of rivers, bogs, forests, swamps, marshes and open water — is known in Alabama as America’s Amazon. It hums with birdsong and busy insects and gently lapping water. I was last out on this delta in 2018, and what I remember most is the peace of a world that feels untouched by human hands, unharmed by human commerce.
Last May, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a new rule that would hold utilities more accountable for coal ash pollution. In August the agency put Alabama Power on notice that its plan fails to meet minimal federal requirements for the safe storage of coal ash, but the agency still hasn’t issued a final denial of the plan. Last May, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a new rule that would hold utilities more accountable for coal ash pollution. In August the agency put Alabama Power on notice that its plan fails to meet minimal federal requirements for the safe storage of coal ash, but the agency still hasn’t issued a final denial of the plan.